System for controlling total power consumption of plural apparatuses and control method thereof

A control method of a system which comprises a server and a plurality of apparatuses each incorporating a device, and in which the plurality of apparatuses control power supply ON and OFF states of the devices in accordance with an instruction from the server, the method comprising:

• in the server,
• collecting pieces of operation state information indicating operation states of the plurality of apparatuses from the plurality of apparatuses;
• grouping, with reference to the pieces of operation state information collected in the collecting, the plurality of apparatuses into groups which respectively correspond to a plurality of different operation states and respectively have different priorities as priorities used when the server gives a device power supply allowance;
• sending an allowance notification indicating a device power supply allowance to apparatuses which belong to respective groups in descending order of priority within a range in which a parameter associated with power consumption values of apparatuses to which the device power supply allowance is given of the plurality of apparatuses does not exceed an upper limit value which is predetermined in correspondence with a total power consumption amount of the plurality of apparatuses;
• and
• in each of the plurality of apparatuses,
• setting the device in a power supply ON state when the allowance notification is received from the server, and setting the device in a power supply OFF state when the allowance notification is not received from the server.

A system comprising:

• a collecting unit that collects pieces of operation state information indicating operation states of a plurality of apparatuses from said plurality of apparatuses;
• a management unit that manages priority based on the pieces of operation state information collected by said collecting unit;
• and
• a control unit that allows, when a total power consumption amount of said plurality of apparatuses exceeds an upper limit value, power supply to said plurality of apparatus in accordance with the priority managed by said management unit.